Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria

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University of California Press, Dec 22, 2023 - History - 248 pages
Thundering Zeus uses an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to resolve one of the greatest puzzles in all of Hellenistic history. This book explores the remarkable rise of a Greek-ruled kingdom in ancient Bactria (modern Afghanistan) during the third century B.C. Diodotus I and II, whose dynasty emblazoned its coins with the dynamic image of Thundering Zeus, led this historic movement by breaking free of the Seleucid Empire and building a strong independent state in Central Asia. The chronology and crises that defined their reigns have been established here for the first time, and Frank Holt sets this new history into the larger context of Hellenistic studies.

The best sources for understanding Hellenistic Bactria are archaeological, and they include a magnificent trove of coins. In addition to giving a history of Bactria, Thundering Zeus provides a catalog of these coins, as well as an introduction to the study of numismatics itself. Holt presents this fascinating material with the precision and acuity of a specialist and with the delight of an admirer, providing an up-to-date full catalog of known Diodotid coinage, and illustrating twenty-three coins.

This succinct, energetic narrative thunders across the history of Hellenistic Bactria, exhuming coins, kingdoms, and customs as it goes. The result is a book that is both a history and a history of discovery, with much to offer those interested in ancient texts, archaeology, and coins.
 

Contents

CHAPTER 1 The Hellenistic Background
3
HELLENISTIC BACTRIA
11
CHAPTER 2 Across the Chasm
23
MONETIZING THE EAST
31
A TRAVELERS TALE
39
CHAPTER 3 An Elusive Dynasty
50
LITERARY SOURCES
57
HISTORICAL PROCESSES
62
CHAPTER 6 The World of Bronze
109
PATTERNS OF EVERYDAY LIFE
117
CHAPTER 7 The Monarchy Affirmed
128
SILENCE IN BACTRIA
135
APPENDIX A A Catalog of Diodotid Coinage in Silver and Gold
141
APPENDIX B A Catalog of Diodotid Coinage in Bronze
166
APPENDIX C Some Diodotid Gold Forgeries
174
APPENDIX D A Selection of Ancient Texts
176

CHAPTER 4 How Money Talks
69
MISSING KINGS
74
EXPANDING HORIZONS
80
DIVISION IN THE RANKS
85
CHAPTER 5 Thundering Zeus
89
THE ELDER DIODOTUS
96
THE YOUNGER DIODOTUS
103
Glossary
187
Abbreviations
191
Select Bibliography
195
Coin Index
211
Author Index
214
Subject Index
216
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About the author (2023)

Frank L. Holt is Associate Professor of History at the University of Houston, and author of Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia (1989).

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